


Lost and Found

by Tarlan



Series: Forever Lost [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angst, Community: mcsheplets, M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-13 18:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2160120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lorne thought it was just a recurring dream that had plagued him since Keller's disappearance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PhoenixWytch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixWytch/gifts).



> PhoenixWytch asked if I would write a sequel to Forever Lost, even though I wrote that story over five years ago. I must admit that I've always wanted to do so, and I guess now is a good time.

Lorne awoke slowly, blinking heavy eyelids as he tried to focus on the face looming over him.

"Major?"

He heard a groan and wondered who it was before recognizing his own voice. Reaching up, he pressed his fingertips against his temple gingerly as the throbbing inside his head went on relentlessly.

"Evan? Can you hear me?" When he realized it was Colonel Sheppard, he tried to turn the massaging fingers into a salute but Sheppard stopped him with a gentle, "At ease, Major."

"What happened, Sir?"

Sheppard looked at him strangely, contemplating, as if choosing his words carefully.

"Do you recall that entity that jumped from person to person, a few years back?"

"Sir?"

Sheppard looked pained. "The one that killed Doctor Heightmeyer," he added softly.

Lorne nodded but regretted it instantly as the throbbing inside his head increased. It had been a difficult time, with the entity manipulating people's dreams to cause them pain, suffering - and in Heightmeyer's case - death.

"Looks like we found out how they reproduce. We found a baby one attached to the wall in one of the spires, south of the main tower. Beckett ran a diagnostic on everyone... and found three people affected by it. You, Doctor Parrish, and Sergeant Hayman."

"Hayman's back on Earth."

Beckett spoke. "Aye, but fortunately for all of us, it was too young and weak to reproduce further."

Lorne frowned as the fog began to lift from his mind. Parrish and Hayman had been on his team, along with Corporal Jennings, who was killed on Midway by the Wraith. Some fragment of memory about a disused residential spire was coming back to him and he recalled Colonel Carter authorizing a city exploration to assess the damage from the asteroid storm following their escape from the Asurans. It was some months after Carter took over the leadership role.

While the engineers worked, Lorne's team had gone to check out some of the residential quarters used by the Ancients, and Doctor Keller had asked to tag along with them.

As a kid, he'd been prone to sleep walking but had eventually grown out of that - or so he had believed until he came to Atlantis. After the incident with the 'dream entity', he'd caught himself sleep walking a few times. On each occasion he had awoken to find he was fully dressed, but it was the dreams following the city's return to Pegasus from Earth that disturbed him most. Three dreams in total, waking up each time sitting on the edge of his bed fully clothed, with hazy memories of a disused corridor, a hidden door....

... And Jennifer Keller.

"Major!" Sheppard looked across at Beckett in concern as Lorne shoved back the light cover and tried to scramble out of the bed. "Major!" Both Sheppard and Beckett held on tight to him and he felt too weak to fight them, his head falling back onto the pillow.

Lorne stared at Sheppard in horror. He liked Sheppard. The man was one of the best commanding officers Lorne had served with, who always put his men first, and like any good 2IC, he had wanted to make his C.O. happy. He hadn't much liked Doctor Keller both personally and professionally, especially when he saw how much pain her relationship with McKay caused Sheppard.

Since Keller's disappearance, he had dreamed of knowing where she was lost in the city, and he had awoken each time feeling guilty for his subconscious pleasure in her loss. Those dreams always followed some event that reminded him of her - the anniversary of her disappearance, and Sheppard and McKay's recent marriage by Canadian law. 

"I thought they were just bad dreams but what if...? What if...?"

Sheppard shared another significant look with Beckett. "What dreams, Major?"

Two hours later, Lorne led a small group consisting of Sheppard's team plus Beckett into the damaged spire where they had found the 'baby' entity.

Recalling his dreams, he led them along a corridor, passing bubbling columns and bronzed panels before turning a corner that led to a dead end. He pressed his hand against the wall but nothing happened. Chagrined, he turned to Sheppard.

"I'm sorry, sir. Maybe it was just a dream after all."

"Major?" McKay pushed forward and began to scan the wall. "There's definitely something here. Hmmm?"

"Rodney?" Sheppard drew out McKay's name with familiar, measured impatience.

"Yes, yes. I'm working on it." He stopped playing with his datapad and frowned before looking across at Sheppard, eyes filled with innocence and hope. "Perhaps you could try thinking open at it?"

"Or how about I just say 'Open Sesame'?"

McKay started to roll his eyes but they widened instead as the hidden doorway opened, revealing an empty room beyond. Sheppard made a move to step inside but McKay, who was still studying his datapad, looked up in alarm and grabbed Sheppard's arm.

"NO!" He looked at John in shock. "It's a time dilation field."

Sheppard stepped back quickly, and Lorne couldn't blame him as he'd been stuck in the last time dilation field for six months while only hours had passed for those in Atlantis.

"Slower or faster?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't..." McKay fiddled with the datapad, taking readings. "Slower... I think."

"Where's the power source? Switch it off!"

"I'm trying!" McKay moved to another blank part of the wall and pressed his fingers against it, and a panel opened. Lorne watched McKay's fingers fly across the control pad.

"Rodney? Colonel Sheppard?"

Everyone froze as a weak, familiar voice from the past drew their attention back to the hidden room, which was no longer empty. Inside, Jennifer Keller climbed slowly to her feet, eyes shining with unshed tears of relief, smiling brightly. She rushed towards them, burying herself against a shocked McKay.

"I knew you'd find me."

"Jennifer?"

Slowly, McKay hugged her back, taking her weight as she sagged against him.

***

"How is she?" Lorne asked Beckett, determined not to allow guilt to keep him distant.

Sheppard had tried to convince him that he wasn't responsible for what had happened but Lorne knew they were all shouldering the blame in one form or another. For his part, the baby entity had picked up on his desire to see his C.O. happy, and on Keller's fear of being abandoned by McKay in favor of Sheppard. It had led her through the city, making her believe she was following the sound of McKay's voice.

"A day in there was a year out here so she was pretty dehydrated by the time we found her. Another few months and she would have been gone."

"She's going to be okay though?" he asked.

"Aye, in time." He smiled sadly. "She has a lot take in though. To Jennifer, it's only been a few days, but in those three days, she lost everything. Her father died last year, and Rodney..." He trailed off with a heartfelt sigh. "Rodney is wracked with guilt, and he's still trying to figure out how the entity knew about the Panic Rooms."

"Panic _Rooms_?"

"Aye. Apparently, it was not the only one in that building. Rodney suspects they were there to hide the people from the Wraith as a last resort, should the Wraith ever breach the city."

"That kind of makes sense. The Ancients were always good with shields... but why as a last resort?"

"Because you have to take into account the longevity of the Wraith. Unless someone re-took the city from them pretty sharpish, then the Ancients would have to hide away for months in the hope that the Wraith would go back into hibernation after another fifty to a hundred years out here. Or hide for decades if not."

It was a fascinating idea, though Lorne suspected the Ancients would have been far better prepared with ample supplies to see them through the weeks, months or years hidden inside the time dilation field. Keller hadn't been so lucky, foolishly leaving her standard gear behind under the false assumption that she would be safe on Atlantis, even while wandering around long abandoned areas of the city.

His thoughts turned from her to McKay. Earlier today he had seen McKay sitting rigid by Keller's bedside, holding her hands as he spoke - quietly for once. Lorne could tell by the distraught look on her face as she caught sight of the wedding band on McKay's finger that he'd been trying to explain that he had moved on with Colonel Sheppard - just as she had feared.

Later he had almost walked in on McKay and Sheppard in the Colonel's office, overhearing Sheppard's soft voice as they talked.

He was relieved when the pleading words had ended with McKay wrapped in Sheppard's arms, both kissing with quiet desperation - and love. He had feared the guilt would drive them apart, with Sheppard trying to shoulder responsibility for everything that had happened to Keller, just as he had when the original entity had used him to gain access to the city.

Slowly he moved across the Infirmary towards Keller's bed.

"Major Lorne?"

He smiled and indicated towards the seat beside her bed. "May I?"

She nodded and he sank down onto the deliberately uncomfortable seat - not that it had ever stopped anyone from sitting vigil with an injured teammate or friend in the past. Her eyes were dark circles of fatigue and dehydration, and now red-rimmed from tears. Slowly he drew in a deep, steadying breath, and told his story in the hope of easing the responsibility lying heavy on his soul - and in hope of finding forgiveness.

END

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End file.
